The present invention relates generally to vehicular cup holders and, more particularly, to an inflatable cup holder having a pressurized air bladder.
A cup holder is a ubiquitous feature in a modern vehicle. A motorist often consumes varied beverages during the course of the day while commuting. A cup holder is used to stabilize beverage containers as varied as disposable cups, soft drink bottles and cans, oversized beverage cups and mugs. The conventional vehicle cup holder is merely a depressed annular region. However, an invariant annular depression is necessarily too small to accommodate large containers or affords excessive movement to undersize containers. Regardless of whether a container is too large to fit in a cup holder or so small as to slosh. However, spillage is the inevitable result. The conventional recessed annular cup holder would be greatly improved if it were adjustable without the addition of space consuming complex mechanical devices. Thus, there exists a need for a compact vehicle cup holder that is adjustable to accommodate a variety of beverage container sizes.
An inventive cup holder includes a shell with an inner wall defining an internal bore. The internal bore has an aperture therein. An inflatable bladder adjacent to the aperture upon pressurization, thromboses and extends to the aperture into the bore to reduce internal bore size and thereby impinge upon a beverage container inserted within the internal bore. An inflation device for pressurizing the bladder is located within the shell of the cup holder. A shell outer wall can be adapted to insert within a recess.
The process for securing a beverage container includes the steps of inserting a beverage container into a cup holder and includes a shell having a wall defining an internal bore and an aperture in the inner wall, an inflatable bladder adjacent to the aperture and an inflation device for pressurizing the bladder to protrude through the aperture into the internal bore. The use of a pressure bladder to reduce the diameter of the cup holder to secure a variety of beverage containers is also detailed.